MSNBC leans backward

11/19/13 1:23 PM EST

News networks rarely live up to their slogans. In fact, the taglines often seem like a self-depricating joke: Fox News is "fair and balanced"; CNN is "the mosttrustedname in news."

At least MSNBC can stand by "lean forward." The network supports Obama (as much as it can these days) and advocates for a strong progressive agenda: pro-universal healthcare, pro-gay marriage, pro-gun control, etc. etc.

In terms of civility, however, the network has taken quite a few steps backward -- or rather, downward, to the bottom of the barrel.

This week, Martin Bashir was forced to apologize for suggesting that Sarah Palin should be forced to eat feces. Last week, the network suspended Alec Baldwin's show after he called a photographer a "c---sucking f-g." The week before that, host Chris Matthews joked that the heavyset Chris Christie crushes his wife during sex. The month prior, Ed Schultz called Glenn Beck "a dumbass" on live television.

In chronological order, that's generally unconstructive profanity, a fat joke, a homophobic threat, and something straddling the line between torture endorsement and a poop joke. MSNBC may have a deep bench of Ivy League talent, but right now it feels like a state-school frat house on pledge night. How that's a good thing for the progressive agenda is beyond me.